Dec. 7: 'It brings back the memories'

Just minutes before 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, Yearwood watched the first bombs drop on the Pennsylvania, one of the eight battleships damaged or destroyed during the surprise Japanese air attack.

In an instant, everything was on fire.

''Everything was burning ... the water, the ships,'' he said. ''The soldiers on board the ships had the choice of staying in the skillet or jumping into the fire.''

Amid gunfire and smoke, Yearwood and his Marine bunkmates ran to a gun shed and set up a .30-caliber machine gun. They were able to gun down a Japanese plane, and watched it crash on a nearby tennis court.

Over the next several days, Yearwood helped clean up the wreckage of the attack that crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet, destroyed 188 planes and claimed 2,403 lives. The experience, Yearwood said, is one he will take to his grave.

''It was just plumb sickening,'' he said.

Yearwood, now 79 years old and living in Jefferson, approaches each Dec. 7 with mixed feelings. While he feels it's important to remember the attack on Pearl Harbor, it's difficult for him to remember the friends he lost.

''It brings back the memories of all the guys that didn't make it,'' Yearwood said. ''They're your friends, your kinfolk. I'll probably cry a little bit. For a lot of folks it doesn't mean anything but it means a lot to me.''

As an active member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA), Yearwood said he believes it's important to pay homage to those who died and pass the story of Pearl Harbor on to future generations.

Yearwood gives his time to Jackson County schools to talk about his military service, and he has also orchestrated the donation of dozens of American flags to local cemeteries to mark veterans' graves.

''If we don't tell it, the story dies,'' he said.

The PHSA is a national organization which focuses on the historical research and preservation of the events of Dec. 7 at Pearl Harbor. The motto of the PHSA is ''Remember Pearl Harbor, Keep America Alert.''

A need for an alert America has become even more pressing in light of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center -- an event that was reminiscent of Pearl Harbor in many ways, Yearwood said.

''It's the same situation we were in back then,'' Yearwood said. ''We were just sleeping and they were just working and a lot of people were killed.''

Yearwood enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1939 at the age of 17. He was discharged in 1945 after a tour of duty that included World War II service at Pearl Harbor, Guam and Guadalcanal. A Jefferson native, Yearwood returned to Jackson County after his service to work in construction.

While his life has moved on since his military service, Yearwood said his experience at Pearl Harbor will forever make him grateful that he survived to tell the story.

''It's good to be alive,'' he said.

Then and now

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, are often compared to the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Here are some facts about the two American tragedies:

FIRST NEWS REPORTS

Dec. 7, 1941: At 8:40 a.m. Hawaii time, local radio stations report that the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor. Three hours later, NBC breaks into its national programming with a 30-second bulletin: "It's no joke. It's real war."

Sept. 11, 2001: At 8:49 a.m. Eastern Time, one minute after the first plane struck the World Trade Center, CNN began live coverage. Four minutes later, the Associated Press sent a bulletin.

OUR LEADERS

Dec. 7, 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in his White House study when the attack on Pearl Harbor began.

Sept. 11, 2001: President George W. Bush was in a second-grade class in Sarasota, Fla., when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.

U.S. POPULATION

Dec. 7, 1941: 132,164,569 (1940 census)

Sept. 11, 2001: 281,421,906 (2000 census)

NUMBER KILLED

Dec. 7, 1941: 2,300

Sept. 11, 2001: 5,000-plus

NATIONAL DEBT

1941: $47 billion (1941 dollars)

2001: $5.8 trillion (2001 dollars)

MINIMUM WAGE

1941: 40 cents an hour

2001: $5.15 an hour

AVERAGE INCOME

1941: $40 a week

2001: $492.40 a week

MOVIE ADMISSION

1941: 25 cents

2001: $7.50

STOCK MARKET

First trading day after Dec. 7, 1941: The Dow fell four points, or 3.4 percent, closing at 112.52.

First trading day after Sept. 11, 2001: The Dow fell a record 684.81, or 7.1 percent, closing at 8,920.70.

LIFE IN 1941

Less than half of homes had a telephone.

A fifth of homes were without electricity.

More than a third of the nation's 32 million families lived below the poverty line ($1,500 a year).

A married man with two dependents paid no income tax unless he made $2,500; then he paid $6 in tax.